Summary: Washington D.C. [USA], Nov 3 (ANI): As the mother of a
newborn diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD), life may be
filled with emotional ups and downs. According to a recent study,
mindfulness may offer an active coping mechanism.

Washington D.C. [USA], Nov 3 ( ANI ): As the mother of a newborn
diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD), life may be filled with
emotional ups and downs. According to a recent study, mindfulness may
offer an active coping mechanism.

Mindfulness, which aims to increase a person's awareness and
acceptance of daily experiences, is currently used in a variety of
healthcare settings as a potentially effective skill for stress
reduction, emotion, affect and attention regulation.

A team of nurse-researchers from Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia (CHOP) and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
(Penn Nursing) gathered perspectives on coping mechanisms from focus
groups with 14 mothers of critically ill infants, and explored the
feasibility of mindfulness as a stress-reduction technique.

"Mothers of infants with complex congenital heart disease are
exposed to increased stress, which has been associated with numerous
adverse outcomes," said principal investigator Barbara
Medoff-Cooper. "The coping mechanisms these mothers use critically
impacts the family's adaptation to the illness, and most likely
infant outcomes as well."

"Thus far, parental interventions in the CICU generally are
informative or educational, aiming to increase parental abilities to
actively manage the caretaking demands of an infant with CHD," said
lead author Nadya Golfenshtein. "Mindfulness can be a helpful tool
that assists mothers during an incredibly stressful time for them, and
for their family by allowing them to pause and be present in the moment
rather than wishing something different was happening or worrying about
tomorrow."

The researchers collected data during focus groups between July
2015 and March 2016. The sessions included a short introduction to
mindfulness as a stress reduction intervention, led by a moderator who
is a psychotherapist experienced in group formats.

After experiencing a brief guided session of mindfulness in a focus
group, one mother said, "Most meditation is about clear your mind
and lose focus, but this is to focus on now. I think it works for me, I
was never able to do the clear mind thing. This is more accessible to
me." Another noted, "This is something I'm doing for
myself, remembering I'm part of this too. Sometimes you are on
autopilot, making sure everyone else is ok. Yes, this is a moment when
I'm doing something for myself."

The mothers agreed that mindfulness should start early, preferably
immediately after the prenatal CHD diagnosis. That way, they felt, that
they would have time to learn and practice the skill by the time the
baby is born. There was also a general agreement that the worst time to
begin the practice is around surgery, as that is an overwhelming time
and mothers are too busy to learn a new skill. The mothers preferred
engaging in mindfulness in a private, quiet room as the sounds of the
CICU stress them and may prevent them from relaxing.

"We hope to design a program that draws from these findings
and more research on mindfulness meditation is needed in a larger cohort
of mothers," added Golfenshtein.